'I think it's just time we get caught up.'

No matter how the final results from the Oct. 27 territorial election turn out, one thing is certain: a rookie MLA will represent Sanikiluaq's Hudson Bay riding in the Nunavut legislature.

Former MLA Peter Kattuk, elected to represent Hudson Bay twice after 1999, decided not to put his name forward for re-election in 2008.

So Sanikiluarmiut, who hold the distinction of living in Nunavut's tiniest and most southerly riding, must now chose their new MLA from a slate of three eager newcomers: Bill Fraser, Johnny Manning and Alan Rumboldt.

More than nine in 10 of the riding's 300 eligible voters turned out to vote in the 2004 Nunavut election, and this year's candidates say interest in the Oct. 27 election is also running strong.

Bill Fraser, a social worker for more than 30 years, is itching to be elected so he can start raising Sanikiluaq's needs in the Nunavut legislature.

"We have less. We have less jobs, less infrastructure, we have less of everything. I think it's just time we get caught up," Fraser said by telephone from Sanikiluaq.

Fraser, who has sat on the local district education authority, the housing association as well as local social and justice committees, said he's trying to convince residents he's the best choice for MLA, by delivering his platform in English and Inuktitut on the radio.

"I'm not a real politician, but I feel I have some leadership ability, and I can go to Iqaluit and say ‘hey we're behind, it's catch-up time. This is what we need. Here's my list," Fraser said by telephone from Sanikiluaq.

High on his list is improving the local education system by using more distance education to bring high school students in small communities like Sanikiluaq up to the level of those elsewhere in Canada.

Fraser also wants to see more "meaningful jobs that people like to do and can feed their families" with. He'd fight for a larger community centre and a swimming pool, perhaps using the local Nuiyak School's in-house construction program to build the projects.

Fraser also wants to get money to rebuild the former South Camp settlement, demolished in the 1970s, and put in a new trail to the camp, 55 kilometres from the present-day community, using local labour.

That Sanikiluaq has never received outpost camp funding shows how the community has been cut off, he said.

Fraser, who moved to Sanikiluaq from Pond Inlet in 1995, has two children, 18 and 15, with his wife Dora, who is originally from the Belcher Islands.

While he acknowledges the island community has social problems, including increases in drug and alcohol abuse, the scale is nothing like in Kuujjuaraapik across the bay, Fraser said.

"These are very, very good people who live here, and I suspect when you have any collection of 800 souls you're going to have good, bad and everything in between."

Johnny Manning, originally from Cape Dorset, worked for Hudson Bay's former MLA Peter Kattuk as a constituency worker.

That is, until he decided to run himself in the Oct. 27 territorial election.

Now, with Kattuk as his financial agent, Manning hopes to take over as MLA.

Manning has held elected office before, sitting as a hamlet councillor.

If elected as MLA, Manning said he'd put his energy into making sure Sanikiluaq becomes a better place to live.

"Just like every community, we need paved streets. It gets so dusty," Manning said, noting that Sanikiluaq experiences a later freeze-up and earlier spring than other communities in Nunavut.

The "better environment and future" for Sanikiluaq that Manning dreams of also includes better social housing, more jobs and additional resources to prevent suicide and deal with the influx of drugs coming into town.

"It makes you worry in a very small community. I guess the old tactics don't really work, but there has to be a way," he said.

Manning also wants to push for more facilities for community youth, like a swimming pool, which he said would help youth through the hot days of summer and, at the same time, offer them new skills and job possibilities.

Allan Rumboldt, the heavy equipment operator for the hamlet of Sanikiluaq, has big plans for Sanikiluaq if he's elected.

Calling Sanikiluaq a traditional community, Rumboldt said he would "take the community's concerns to Iqaluit," if elected.

The top concerns include more infrastructure, particularly for recreation, and more measures to protect the marine environment.

"People here live from the ocean," he said.

Rumboldt, who first arrived to the islands as a manager for the Northern store 19 years ago, has sat on the hamlet council and local district education authority.

His wife Mina teaches at Nuiyak School, while their 14-year-old son Gary is a student there.

Rumboldt did not want to comment on the rising number of drug incidents in Sanikiluaq or what could be done to curb them.